Hazzard, Still Angry, Looks Forward to North Carolina’s Return Visits

A week ago, UCLA Coach Walt Hazzard was talking about dropping, or at least cutting short, the Bruins’ four-game basketball series with North Carolina.

Since losing the opening game of the series at North Carolina Sunday, 107-70--the worst loss in the history of UCLA basketball--Hazzard has dropped that idea.

North Carolina Coach Dean Smith hit him in the pride, and Hazzard isn’t about to back away from what looks to be a nicely blossoming little feud.

“There was some talk about discontinuing the series,” Hazzard said. “It will go on as contracted. Especially after a game like Sunday’s. There is no way I would drop the series now.”

Hazzard said that he first became irritated with the deal when he learned that the opening game would be played at Carmichael Auditorium, a notorious pit, instead of at the Tar Heels’ new facility. The idea, when the series was signed, was for UCLA to have the honor of helping to inaugurate the new, much bigger, arena.

Hazzard first mentioned dropping the series, though, three days after Scott Williams, a highly rated 6-10 forward from Hacienda Heights Wilson, had announced that he was going to North Carolina instead of UCLA. Williams said that one reason for choosing North Carolina over a couple of other schools was that the series would bring him home to play at Pauley Pavilion twice.

Asked if Williams’ comment had had anything to do with causing him to want to drop the series, Hazzard said: “It could have. I’m human.”

Sunday’s game, however, convinced him otherwise.

“He (Smith) left his starters in until there were just two minutes left in the game,” Hazzard said. “He accomplished what he wanted to accomplish. They are rated No. 1 today.

“They say ‘What goes around, comes around.’ I hope I’m here long enough to dish out the ‘come around.’

“Dean Smith had no mercy on us. I guess that was payback for the difficulties he had over the years with Coach (John) Wooden. We’ll get our time.”

Asked if he had made his feelings known to Smith in their private conversation after the game, Hazzard said, “Of course, I did.”

Asked how Smith had responded, Hazzard said: “With a smile on his face. . . . He’d smile in the face of death.”

Already, Hazzard is looking forward to next time. He said: “I’ll have to swallow the bullet this time. But I’ll have my shot. They’ll be back here next year without (Brad) Daugherty, (Warren) Martin and (Steve) Hale. Things will balance out. They always do.

“I didn’t think our team was 37 points worse than they were. We shot no free throws in the second half. (Actually, UCLA shot two free throws and missed them.) You learn as a player that, on the road, if you get the calls in the first half, forget it in the second half. . . . But that wasn’t why they beat us. They just beat us.

“They’re the No. 1 team in the country as a result of it. Who knows? Maybe we’ll see them somewhere else later on if we work at it. It’s not that far-fetched. It could happen.”